A Game of Cards
by suessepup
Summary: AU Hetalia Cardverse - Years after the peace treaty among the kingdoms of hearts, spades, clubs, and diamonds, tensions begin to rise. With love and hatred fresh in the air, the tables are due to turn in time... for better or for worse.
1. Shuffle

"What am I to do?" the king dressed in yellow sighed. He had been pondering this question for months now. "Vash, you're just as worried, are you not?"

"Of course I am sire," the jack of diamonds responded. He didn't look up from his work. In front of him on the wooden table were pieces of clockwork. He paid no mind to the worrying king. It was more important to finish the small clock in time.

"There's Lilli—"

"There is no her," Vash snapped. "If you even lay a finger on my sister, I will blast your head off faster than it can be cut off."

The king nodded. He understood the Swiss Jack's anger more than most people did. He flirted with many women and girls, but not one interested him. His queen, or rather princess was far too young to rule if he suddenly died. Lilli was only a girl. They needed a woman to run the kingdom. If he died, the Bonnefoy line would cease to exist as well. He had no heir. Things were troublesome for him. At least war was not on the horizon.

"As my trusted advisor, what do you think I should do?"

"The same thing you always do," he answered bluntly, "just make sure it goes further. You realize that any girl in this kingdom would love to be your bride, yet you take them on one date at the most and then leave them behind."

"I'm not that low! I will not marry if it isn't for sweet love," he cooed as if wooing the Jack.

"Then go on more than one date and maybe you'll find love."

"With that attitude of yours, you'll die alone."

"And I'm perfectly fine with that unlike you. Do you wish for me to set up another ball, sire?"

"What's the point?"

"Ve, Ludwig~ Ludwig~ Where are you going?" the Italian sang as he ran after him. He waved the long spear with the Heart's flag on it as he did, nearly knocking several things over and stabbing a couple of people.

"I'm going to discuss something with the queen, so if you wouldn't mind releasing my arm," Ludwig said angrily under his breath as he walked toward the throne room. He struggled to pull his arm out from the red Jack's grip. For some reason, he only found the strength of Italian when it came to clinging onto -something. He shook his head and smiled lightly as he just let him hold on.

The throne room was large. There were thousands of hearts embedded into the décor. The stained glass windows held several hearts in them and even the tiles were heart-shape. The carpet was red and showed the least amount of hearts. Two large seats stood at the top of the stairs, in one was the queen of hearts.

"Oh, hello Ludwig… Feliciano," the queen greeted as he put the drawing he was working on.

"Please, Kiku, don't mind the Jack. We have several things to talk about today," Ludwig responded and took a seat next to him.

The fire was roaring in the twilight out of the kingdom. "пять, шесть, семь, королева, король," he mumbled as cards were tossed into the fire. "Stupid Spades."

"Come on, you're taking too long," Alfred whined as he waited. He rested his head on his arms that were crossed over the table. The younger male pouted as he folded up papers and threw them at the other blond.

"It wouldn't take so long if you helped!" Arthur snapped and picked some of the paper out of his hair. "This is your job too, lazy king." He brushed the other aside as he looked through papers that ranged from simple complaints to possible threats on their lives. It was weekly activities that build up through the week. Arthur rarely had any time to look through the papers and Alfred, when he wasn't by Arthur's side, was visiting children and doing his daily heroic activities.

Alfred pushed his chair back against the wall in protest. "That stuff is lame. The kingdom is fine, yet all the peasants think it is the end of the world. They never complain to me when I visit," he whined.

"That's because they know you'll get upset and take it too personally. I've dealt with this long enough to find it bothersome to track down simple complaints."

"Won't you put the papers down for me?"

"I will if you help me out," Arthur said and continued looking through the papers.

"Please Iggy?"

"Just put the fat arse to work, Alfred! I am tired of doing all of your work," Arthur snapped but he was silenced when Alfred kissed him on the cheek. The queen of spades turned bright red in that instance and turned his face to the papers again.

"Are you sure Iggy?

"J-j-just give me some time, you idiot! You can't just seduce your way through work," Arthur stuttered and tried to hide his face.

"But it works," Alfred laughed and stood up.

"Shut up! Go get Yao to look over the papers we have if you want my attention so badly!" he said with a sigh. He shook his head with a smile as he watched Alfred run out, looking for the Jack of Spades.


	2. Kingdom of Spades and the Letter

Alfred bonded down the stairs of the great fortress. He loved his kingdom and his people, especially his queen. It had been luck that things ended up like this. He never looked much further than his joy or the situation it gave him. His classic grin stuck on his face as he purposely jumped over steps so that he would have two or three stairs covered in one step, or even if he felt up to it, he would jump from the top of a flight of stairs to the bottom in one go. The young king felt like he was flying. His heart was soaring at least.

"Jack~ Jack~" he called as he ran through the long halls of the palace. He did several quick roundabouts when he nearly ran into some of the royal cooks and servants. It wasn't unknown in the castle that the king, still young for his position, was athletic and flexible. So instead of stopping when an obstacle got in his way, Alfred easily found the quickest way to bypass it, even if it meant that the poor servant would be scared crazy.

The Jack of Spades was use to this and instead of jumping in shock; he managed to stop the king in his tracks. The Jack was a proud martial artist and managed to knock Alfred over in one movement to his back. "Why are you in a rush, aru? The poor dish boy people had a heart attack because of you, aru," Yao lectured as he helped the king up.

Alfred laughed as he caught his breath. That grin of his never seemed to fade with the incident. "Sorry Yao. Arthur told me to come and find you so he can be relieved of duty," Alfred explained.

"Aiyaa, isn't that your job, Alfred?"

"No," he said with a huff and looked away with a pout. "Just, will ya do it for me?"

"You need to stop making Arthur and I do all your work, aru. Being the king doesn't mean all you have to do is cut ribbons and kiss babies, aru."

"Ew, I don't want to kiss babies. I don't know where they've been."

"That's not the point, aru!"

"I know, I know, but will you please? Just this once, Yao," Alfred begged and looked up at the elder royal with puppy dog eyes.

The Chinese man sighed and gave in finally. He knew well enough that the king didn't change his mind that often. He was one step from under from the queen's stubbornness. "Fine, but next time you will do your own work, aru," he said.

"Thanks a lot Yao!" Alfred cheered and spun around. In a second, he was at the base of the spiral stair case leading to the main hallway.

"Wait! Alfred! A joker is here for Arthur so when you get done with your own private affairs, make sure he comes down and gets the message, aru," Yao shouted but Alfred was already half way up the stairs.

"Alright! I got it! See you at dinner Jack!" Alfred shouted on his way up the stairs.

It took Alfred shorter to reach the room where he had left the queen. Arthur was still hidden behind the pile of papers. At least now, the once non-existent pile had grown relatively well. Arthur tended to work faster when Alfred wasn't bothering him, like most people would. The doors flew open when Alfred entered, giving an entrance meant for a king. "Come on Arthur! Yao is going to take over!" he cheered and picked the queen up.

"St-stop it you git! Put me down!" Arthur protested with a bright red face and clung to the king. "I can walk just fine, thank you!"

"Aw, but I like carrying you. It makes you look more like a queen," he pouted, still holding Arthur.

"Sh-shut up and let me down," he demanded.

"Fine, party pooper," he mumbled as he set the queen down. Instead, he grabbed Arthur's head and started dragging him behind him. Arthur didn't have a chance to protest as he was helplessly dragged behind, fighting to stay on his feet.

"Where are we going?" Arthur asked, finally keeping up.

"The garden," Alfred replied as he glanced back with a grin, "I know how much you love it. The roses are wonderful at this time of the year."

"Bloody hell, you're glad I'm a hopeless romantic," Arthur grumbled as he was dragged along. Several the servants stopped to watch the two. They added their own sound effects like "aw" or "oh la la" when Alfred dragged him by. Arthur tried to pay more attention to stay on his feet but every time someone made a comment, his face turned as red as the Heart's royal crest.

But the queen of spades was saved when Alfred stumbled into a small boy, knocking him over. The poor boy landed on his butt with a thud and his black hat, with its pointed end for ears landed on the ground behind him. "Ouch! Watch where you're going jerk!" the child complained from the ground.

"Peter, what are you doing here?" Arthur asked as he broke from the king's grip.

"I thought I told the Jack to let you know I had something for you, Queen of Jerks," the boy retorted angrily.

"I haven't seen the Jack. Alfred, did you forget to tell me something?" Arthur said and shot him a look.

"Yao told me it wasn't urgent and that it could wait though," Alfred whined.

Arthur sighed and turned his attention back to the Joker. "What do you have for me?" he asked and helped Peter back up, straightening the outfit he wore. Peter batted his hand away.

"Stop it, jerk! Here, it's a letter from the diamond kingdom. I was told it was just for you and not…" Peter glanced at the King of spades who looked over Arthur's shoulder at the letter.

"I understand. Send him my regards," Arthur said with a nod.

"He wanted a response for the letter so if you don't want to waste all of my time, I would appreciate your response to it soon," Peter grumbled and hopped up onto the bench.

"But we were just about to go to the garden," Alfred whined and tugged Arthur a bit toward the direction they were heading.

"You can wait, git! Let me just see what it says and I'll join you. Go on ahead," Arthur ordered. Alfred glanced back at Arthur once more before heading on out at a slower speed than usual. The queen took a seat on the other side of the hallway so he could read the letter.

_Dear Sir Arthur Kirkland,_

_ It has been a long time, cher. I hope you haven't forgotten moi! I hear you are following the king around like a cute little pet. You were always so adorable petit lapin. It's a shame thinking the feared knight has sunk to such a level. I guess we all have to accept out fate at some point. Moi has been running a beautiful kingdom with lovely women and girls. It is much more beautiful than yours; I can promise you that, petit lapin. If you aren't busy doing it with Alfred, I would like to meet with you. It has been awhile since we've met outside of politics. I hope you don't mind. I'll meet you at the Spade Tree at twilight. Please, don't tell your master about this. I'm sure you understand. Send your replies with Peter. I will be waiting._

_Always Yours,_

_ Francis Bonnefoy, King of Diamonds_

Arthur glanced down the hall to make sure there was no sign of Alfred. He sighed and took out his pen. He wrote quickly and covered his work. He folded the reply up and placed it back into the envelope before drawing a quick royal spades over the diamond he drew on it.

"There, give this to him and no one else, Peter or I'll have your head, got it?" Arthur directed.

"Yes, yes, your highness. I know the protocol. See ya jerk!" he said before darting toward the exit. Arthur watched him leave before glancing at the rose petal that had fallen out. It was the typical yellow one that Francis strolled around and handed out. The queen sighed before picking it up and stuffing it into his pocket. He glanced around before heading to the garden to meet the King of Spades.


End file.
